DCU Students face the Dragons at DCU Business School Dragon’s Den
DCU Business School students faced a real-life Dragon’s Den encounter from April 16th – 18th, presenting their plans for developing a new business idea to real-life leaders from across business areas and industries. These start-up ideas are the cumulative result of the year-long New Enterprise Development programme that brings together final year business students in the study of Entrepreneurship.
25 Dragons from companies such as AIG, Ernst and Young, Nissan, BT and Irish Rail participated as Dragons, including former Dublin GAA player Denis Bastick and Bronwyn Brophy VP Early Technologies EMEA at Medtronic.
53 groups of students presented their project or prototype to five dragons, facing scrutiny around all elements of the product’s viability, including valuation, market research, USPs and accessing capital. They then faced rebuttal and scrutiny on all aspects of their business proposal by the Dragons.
Business ventures spanned a variety of interests and uses, including:
- The development of a clear PVC bag with branding on one side and an attached lanyard, to be used at all large events to tackle the "no bag policy" at major events such as concerts
A range of agricultural innovations including:
- An automated weight adjusted medicine dispenser for animals. This product aims to increase the efficiency of medicating cattle for farmers, improve the health and wellbeing of the livestock whilst also enhancing farm safety.
- A piece of wearable safety technology to improve safety for farmers. The product is aimed primarily at farmers working predominately alone and sends a trigger when methane levels rise around slurry pits, which can potentially be fatal. The product is worn on the wrist- equipped with a heart rate monitor, location tracker, panic button and a gas detector (for slurry relation issues).
Innovations to enhance sports performance include:
- An ice compression aid to assist the recovery of footballers, mixed martial artist and rugby players devising a pair of leggings with inbuilt compression and ice which do not leak.
- The world’s first lightweight shock absorbent surf hood protecting against injuries and concussions in the water
Previous New Enterprise Development projects have included DropChef, run by Ryan Scott. Many of the previous winners have gone on to win major student entrepreneurship accolades including Accenture’s Leaders of Tomorrow award and have participated in start-up incubator programmes such as the New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme organised by Enterprise Ireland, in addition to winning local enterprise funding. New Enterprise Development groups have overall won over €100,000 through this process. DCU Business School is recognised in Europe as being among the top undergraduate business school in winning funding of this scale.
New Enterprise Development coordinator and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship Eric Clinton commented,
“DCU is Ireland’s University of Enterprise and industry engagement is a hallmark of DCU education. Leaders in fields as varied as taxation, banking, start-up experts, sporting leaders and social entrepreneurs have addressed these students as part of New Enterprise Development. The programme seeks to extend best practice in Entrepreneurship to undergraduate education. Students work in a hands-on, practical way moving beyond the theoretical, working in cross-functional teams. Crucially, the students are exposed to the cross-cultural component of the entrepreneurship process, learning to work across cultures. Most teams present prototypes based on a long process of opportunity recognition, feasibility studies, prototype development, which culminates in the boardroom pitch to the Dragons. Our graduates leave equipped to face the workforce with deep and personal understanding of entrepreneurship, preparing them for a myriad of roles across different industries.”